XM-L2 U3 available at IOS ~ The real McCoy

Now available on 20mm Noctigon as well.

These are the real McCoy - got qty 3 in mounted on 16 mm Noctigons. First mod here: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/29006, post #25

Hey all been awhile not trying to start a fire but thought I’d share my thought’s comparing my favorite LED witch is the XM-L2 U2 1d which I purchased several of these at mtnelectronics.com.

I also purchased three CREE XM-L2 U3 1A from the same source (my favorite source).

All LED’s mounted and loaded with a 5 amp LCK driver into an STL-V6 and to my surprise the old XM-L2 U2 1D either tied or beat the new CREE XM-L2 U3 1A in each light I tried them in (I have a lot of Stl-V6 flashlight’s from a discount I received awhile back).

The XPL was no contest no offense but it got it’s behind kicked by both of the above LED’s but still a nice LED but to be fair I bought mine from Fasstech and they were mounted to aluminum and were the CREE XP-L V5 2A.

This is only my testing in the above light also put a few of each in some of C8’s and 501b and 502b’s….all great LED’s but I will be going back to my old favorite and also having fun with a Luminous SST-50 in a Trustfire X7 got the light for $35 shipped and have realy enjoyed this light very natural color with a very large round hotspot that throw’s so far I guess price is what has kept this LED talked about more……but anyway don’t want to hog up the original topic.

Good to see some familiar faces take care you all.

Thanks for sharing tarpon31. Its a bit strange. Very recently I heard from a BLF member (in PM) who upgraded from U2 to the two different new U3 emitters bought from RMM, and there were no gain.. Actually there were some loss in in those cases as well.

I have only used the U3 (1A) emitters in one light (bought from IOS), and based on the numbers, I got the impression that the emitters I got performed like expected from U3 bin, although, not by great margin. When that is said, in my case there were several changes before/after emitter upgrade that made it hard to judge the exact performance gain (One being I did not upgrade directly from XM-L2 U2).

Looking forward to hear what other have experienced...

Theoretically you can have two MTG-2 leds. A P0 bin and Q0 bin with exactly the same output. XML-2 without looking them up could well be the same.

Yes, MRsDNF that is true. What was reported to me was 2% lower in one case and 10% lower in another when upgrading directly from U2 to U3, all else being equal. I asked to check if amps changed (in case of high Vf on the new U3 emitters). But now I hear tarpon31 report loss (or tie) in output as well. And that is with a regulated driver.. Strange that I hear of several mods with lower results within 2-3 days when you should expect about 7% higher output on average.

Hopefully these are just some isolated cases... I have no good exploitation based on what I have heard..

I seemed to get a good increase on my light, so I cant complain. Ill report back with the specifics on my mod when I have to time to post more about it, and have taken another measurement. Which is not top priority right now..

Hi RaceR86 and no problem on the report on my experience.

I have no testing equipement or any other way to measure the lumen’s and such.

The driver I use mostly is this driver—> http://www.ebay.com/itm/221195469886?\_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT and I get it from here because I hear the discount bag of this driver sold at a popular shop sometimes send’s the 3 amp version….only issue I have had with this driver from LCK is the modes are in differet order sometimes which is weird and then sometimes I get noise. The other driver I use is this one after I sand it down to fit—> http://www.ebay.com/itm/221237954783 but it is more work plus the mode arrangement I do not prefer.

What realy concerned me is the visual difference outside at night….most of the time you could clearly tell as soon as you clicked the light on which LED was the winner when there was one and the new U3 in the STL-V6 never won against the few U2 version’s I tried in the same flashlight.

All this will probably change when all the U2’s are sold out and the binning of the U3’s are straightened out.

You say no offense but you realize 5A on aluminum is comparing apples to oranges right, when you say no contest compared to how you got your other LEDs from MTNelectronics? Get than on proper MCPCB for 5A before saying no contest, and you may get a contest.

Hhmm. Only did 1 mod with the U3 1A (from IOS) so far and it turned out very well, but could not compare it head to head with a U2 1A. Was planning on doing that, but got delayed, as usual. Been my experience with U2 1D's in the past they were consistently lower than the 1A's, but who knows - could be the tint's effect on the cheap light meter, or could simply be the 1D's are lower than 1A's but still fit into the U2 bin range of output.

Yes - we must be careful when comparing LED bin/tints to be sure it's apples to apples. Also as RaceR86 points out, it's important to check amps to see if there's differing Vf issues.

The way to find out is to output-test at least two of each, mounted carefully the same way, using a well controlled power supply and an integrating sphere. But those tests are quite time-consuming and would be sooooo boring that I am not willing to do them :bigsmile:

Noooo! All I thought of is that djozz must do this testing... Only one set up for it properly, proven, methodology, etc... CryCry.

Totally understand though Smile.

Just my experience and I posted it.

You read my post and thought I was full of it so be it it is your right as it is anyone else’s but someone else may see it differently and more in tune with my experience and it may help them.

I saw clearly with my own eye’s and I know what I will be buying as far as these particular LED’s are concerned if need be in the future definantly won’t be buying this version of the Cree XPL again it’s just not in the same league it’s just an LED made for different application’s I do realize copper makes a difference compared to aluminum but this version of the Cree XPL got spanked so hard by both version’s of the XM-L2 that I just can’t see it competeing at all even if it was on copper.

I was all set and didn’t realy need the new V3’s or the XPL’s didn’t realy know much about them either as I havn’t kept up with flashlight’s lately but I saw these and bought them on impulse and came away disappointed and it was from my own ignorance that this happened as I shouldn’t have expected a huge gain over what I already had as it was if I had just looked over the data of these LED’s across the web a bit more before purchasing.

tarpon31, If you (learn how to) reflow the XP-L onto copper it will make quite a difference. Highly recommended if you are pushing it to 5A.

Just to give you and idea what a good copper mccpb does with emitters at 5A compared to aluminium. I would expect at least the same performance gain on the XP-L if not more due to the tiny footprint.

Basically, if you have a 5A driver, your will loose out on several hundred lumens...Needless to say, its not going to be close to the XM-L2s on copper.

Comparing U2 and U3 from a visual point of view will not be easy. Differences are really small. But at the end of the day, the visual thing is the most important, so stick with what you prefer. :)

Fingers crossed this was irony or something.. 0:)

So, ehm.. when can we expect the graphs? ^^

Would be interesting to see your comparison of these emitters:

XM-L2 U3 1A

XM-L2 U3 2A

XP-L V6 2C

You need some emitters shipped to you (from IOS)? PM me if you do.. ;)

Wow that is a big difference I can tell by looking at that graph that the Cree XPL would have stayed alot closer to the XM-L2’s if they were on copper because they were a couple 100 lumen’s off from each other as-is as a guesstimate so the XPL on copper would have brought it right in-line and competitive IMO.

Please forgive me for asking about something you mentioned to the other member but do you have access to the XP-L V6 2C ?,I havn’t seen that one anywhere and wanted to try that one.

I will say one very positive thing about the XP-L version I do have is the consistency in the tint….they were all a very pleasant milky white in color plus efficiency on them seem’s to be great as I have been playing around with them tonight with an STL-V6 3 amp driver and a LD-2C 3 amp driver (to test differences in driver’s and LED efficiency at this level) and the CREE XP-L V5 2A does a great and better job then the XM-L2 IMO at 3 amp’s but all this testing I speak of is visual only I don’t have the equipement and doubt I’m smart enough to use it right even if I had it as you smart folk’s on that stuff contribute so much to this forum with your knowledge on it and I thankyou for that.

While I’m at it I don’t visit this forum very often and when I show up I try to contribute the only way I can and that is to leave a link to a deal that I think is exceptional if I find one—> Home - MeritLine I know the site list’s it as name brand “Powerflash” but the light I get is “Small Sun ZY-T614” and has been a great light comes with a nice 3 amp driver’s and XML-T6’s……I do put in my spare STL-V6 driver’s in these light’s though because I am very fond of this driver but the driver’s that come with this flashlight have been great I realy like this little light and it has been a pleasant surprise for being such a cheapie in price compared to some of the other light’s I have bought from that company (lot’s being just junk but it’s to be expected) just to try out as this light is way beyond “cheap quality” work’s awesome as-is but I put in Cree XP-L’s along with my favorite 3 amp driver in the light’s just for the heck of it……buid quality is outstanding and solid and has already proven to me a few times by taking some some massive fall’s……lol,hope it help’s someone as this light sell’s for much more in store’s I see it at else where and sorry if it’s been mentioned before already.

Take care everyone and hope none of what I posted offended anyone as that was not my intention at all. :beer:

You can get the XP-L V6 2C from "IOS". I have not tried it myself...

http://intl-outdoor.com/led-xpl-c-107_141.html?page=2&sort=20a

I don't think you offended anyone.

:beer:

Thankyou so much for that link I appreciate you sharing it with me and the forum because I couldn’t find that version anywhere. :slight_smile:

You and others might want the check what RMM just posted about these emitters as well.

Ill just quote him:

Ohhh - interesting... Guess that's why my U3 1A from IOS did so well because I used it around the 3.8A range in a zoomie and thought it did fantastic, but couldn't compare it to a U2 1A.

As important is why... Is it because of a higher Vf, then even at 4A it won't last very long for high output, not as long as a U2 1A. Or I should say it will drop quicker than a U2 1A if the Vf is higher.

A higher Vf is the easiest explanation. If you are really picky about your leds, you could always test the Vf before putting them into your flashlights :tired:

How would that be done…….